Proposal of an experimental strategy to introduce relativity in elementary physics courses
Abstract
Description
This contribution shows that the main topics of Relativity can be discussed at an elementary level and in a considerable extent - including the formal results of "Time Dilation" and "Lorentz Contraction" - by a minor modification of the usual mathematical formalism employed to describe uniform and accelerated motion. The proposed strategy begins with a "free-fall" experiment, followed by a discussion of the results in order to include deviations of the experimental data with respect to the conventional kinematics model.
7 pages,4 figures,replaced to conform with published version, published title:"Basic Sciences and Engineering: An Experimental Strategy to Teach Relativity and Quantum Mechanics in Introductory Physics Courses"
7 pages,4 figures,replaced to conform with published version, published title:"Basic Sciences and Engineering: An Experimental Strategy to Teach Relativity and Quantum Mechanics in Introductory Physics Courses"